Course description

This course will address sources, services, and systems for providing reference and information service in libraries and information centers. We will examine, create, and evaluate reference sources in a variety of formats. You will gain experience with using, providing, and evaluating reference services in a variety of media.

The course will address the following areas, in varying depth:

Overview of the reference function and the role of libraries;

The history and future of reference service;

Structure, access, and evaluation of information tools;

Question negotiation;

Search skills and search strategy; and

Evaluation of reference services.

INLS 501 is an introduction to reference sources and services, broadly construed. If you are interested in reference work in specific environments, SILS offers a variety of courses: INLS 703, 704, & 705, 708, 709, and others.

Course objectives

By the end of the course, students will:

Be able to identify appropriate information sources and search tools for various types of information needs, and

Use these sources and tools effectively,

Evaluate information sources and search tools for quality,

Evaluate information sources and search tools for relevance to their own information needs,

Understand the steps of the reference transaction, including question negotiation and search strategy development,

A note about office hours: I live in Seattle, WA & will therefore not be holding in person office hours in Chapel Hill. I will hold virtual office hours using Google Hangouts. And I am reachable by all of the fine media listed above. Contact me via any means you prefer. I'm happy to schedule a phonecall if you require a longer conversation.

Additional reading

Reference is a central function of libraries, and as a result a lot gets written about it. Bopp & Smith is the textbook that we use in this course, but another good text is the two-volume work by Katz: